AirAsia India, the budget airline of Tata Sons Ltd and Malaysia’s AirAsia Bhd, will start with 10 Airbus A320s aircraft in the fist phase of its operations.

AirAsia has sought to import 10 Airbus A320s for its India operations, which are all likely to be brought in within a year or roughly about one per month, said two government officials who declined to be named.

Edit: Title of thread changed from "AirAsia India to launch with 10 x A320s" to "AirAsia India News -- Part 1" on 10 Jan 2014, to make it more comprehensive._________________

Last edited by 747-237 on Sat Jan 11, 2014 3:52 am; edited 1 time in total

Good luck to Air Asia India - hopefully they can manage to make money despite the hostile operational environment in India...

I eventually see them going the AirAsia Phillipines way. They'll start small, fail miserably and acquire a small carrier and go from there.

Rumours in and around the Bhopal suggest that ground work for a hub has already begun.

So, its gonna be MAA and BHO._________________Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

Why not NAG? After all it was supposed to be the central city, with all the MIHAN project.
Or has that also bitten dust due to utter incompetence of local authorities and the usual lack of support from MH politicos?

I have to hand it to these guys though...they may move around in fanciest cars and even private planes/choppers, but politicos from MH , across all party lines, have zero outlook on aviation as an industry.

This state , inspite of having one megapolis, metro level city (Pune) and some more rapidly developing ones like Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, has utterly pathetic aviation infrastructure.

In contrast, Kerala has 3 international airports and a fourth one planned.

They applied for IDR and BHO, AFAIK, and between the 2 IDR is way more commercially developed, lets see what happens_________________Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

AirAsia India has received permission from the Ministry of Civil Aviation to import aircraft. This is seen as a step closer for the tripartite joint venture between Tata Sons, Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia and Arun Bhatia's Telestra Tradeplace to securing an air operator's permit.

Persons in the know at the civil aviation ministry said the airline has been allowed to import 10 aircraft over the next year. This includes the three aircraft that came with the no-objection certificate AirAsia India received in September.

The import permission is required before the Directorate General of Civil
Aviation can issue an air operator's permit. DGCA officials will also evaluate AirAsia's training facilities in Malaysia later this month.

Why not NAG? After all it was supposed to be the central city, with all the MIHAN project.
Or has that also bitten dust due to utter incompetence of local authorities and the usual lack of support from MH politicos?

I have to hand it to these guys though...they may move around in fanciest cars and even private planes/choppers, but politicos from MH , across all party lines, have zero outlook on aviation as an industry.

This state , inspite of having one megapolis, metro level city (Pune) and some more rapidly developing ones like Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, has utterly pathetic aviation infrastructure.

In contrast, Kerala has 3 international airports and a fourth one planned.

First of all wasn't it due to some politicians that Nagpur got some international flights in the first place??? QR started NAG in 2006 and dropped in 2009. " Want a few ripe fruits - take a few unripe ones as well" was for some time at least in the not so distant past, a key bargaining point of India in bilaterals. I still remember about three decades back a newspaper report of an India UAE bilateral (no links - long before Internet became popular) when GF who was then GF+WY+EK+EY+QR all in one asked for TRV and the Indian side "noted the UAE request and also offered CCU as an alternative".

Another Indian strategic initiative in those days when AI was running short of planes was to have a virtually "enforced" codeshare with AI whenever the other countries airline wanted new rights. As a result we had these gems like (in the days when Indian Airlines WAS NOT Air India) an Air India connection flight from Chennai to Paris via Delhi which was actually an Indian Airlines Chennai to Delhi and an Air France Delhi to CDG flight.

As far as Nagpur is concerned, comparison with Kerala is irrelevant. Kerala has traffic, mostly international but COK and of late TRV is getting an increased share of domestic as well. CCJ remains mostly Middle East traffic as will Kannur the fourth international airport under construction and which will most certainly get more international traffic than NAG. Kerala already has a 4th and 5h airports at its doorstep, CJB and IXE both within an easy hour or less drive from the state border. Similarly passengers from the southern most districts of Tamil Nadu still fly out from TRV even after the opening up of IXM.

As far as NAG was concerned it was a fantastic hub in those good old days of the night airmail service and the prop aircraft days. Now even the LCCs struggle as the rail connections to BOM are good.

Air Asia is better off sticking to South India since the new AI has become the domestic airline out of BOM an DEL and the international airline out of MAA. and thus inadvertently has given Air Asia India a ready made market to start growing.

An analysis of Air India's latest domestic flight schedule out of MAA is very illuminating

Ahmedabad - Thrice weekly via HYD on a MAA-HYD-AMD-Kuwait routing

Bangalore - One daily flight in the morning which continues to TRV and onwards to Male' (MAA-BLR-TRV-MLE).

Delhi-Five daily flights(most convenient for politicians). However AI 143 at 0845 and AI 0043 are "international connection flights". AI 143 is a CHG (change of a/c) flight to Paris. Otherwise timings allow a choice of two morning and two evening departures - and I am sure Sumantraji would agree- "Sappad" ex MAA on Air India has always been excellent from Indian Airlines days on the Dilli sector. The flight duration is just the perfect one for a good sappad and a nice short nap!!!!

Goa - Another international (oops...Domestic sector). Four flights a week departing 1835 arriving Goa at 1935 which continues to Kuwait. Return leaves Goa at 0735 and reaches at 0900.Air India is I guess targeting those holiday makers who don't want too waste too much time outside office . Most convenient to finish your work and catch your flight and vice versa. I guess " combine the best of both worlds" is their marketing slogan on this route..

Hyderabad - Like Bangalore , only one daily flight .this time in the evening. So if you want to head off to Bangalore on our national carrier, go in the morning, to Hyderabad, go instead in the evening. On Tue, Thu and Sat they do offer a second flight 25 min before their daily 1716 flight ... that is the thrice weekly one to Kuwait via Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Kochi - daily flight but at 1050 AM in the morning.

Kolkata . Daily flight ..AI 766 (the old IC 766) a very very long running evening flight popular for decades with travellers. Timings are also for a justifiable reason.

Mumbai - 4 flights - good connectivity. One of them is a A330 on the BOM-MAA-SIN routing.

Port Blair - Daily early morning flight. Another "Icon" flight operating for many decades from the 737 days (AI 549). The first domestic flight of AI out of MAA.

Pune- A daily flight but again like the COK one at an inconvenient timing. 0950 Dep

Trivandrum - 2 daily - both "international " flights . 0645 goes via BLR and on to MLE, the 1735 goes non stop and continues to Sharjah. at least the timings are good and AI has some very loyal corporate customers . Again a route which has operate for more than 50 years from the Viscount days.

Air India in addition daily non stop international flights to CMB/DXB/MCT /SIN in addition to the hopping flights to KWI/SHJ and MLE.

Now why am I discussing all this in Air Asia India thread??? Simple - why should Air Asia bother with BHO or NAG or IDR when they have such a good market waiting for them ex Chennai. MAA-BLR/MAA-HYD/MAA-CJB (AI pulled out its flights)/MAA-IXM/MAA-COK/MAA-PNQ- choose your pick!!!!

And don't forget if parent Air Asia knows ONE MARKET in India very well, it is MAA. Not just MAA KUL , Thai Air Asia has MAA- BKK as well.

And finally - just to make it clear.. I am NOT an Air India basher. While I have tried to put a humorous tone, in reality the post conveys my anguish of how Air India is selling out on the people from South India on domestic routes especially after Indian Airlines got merged with Air India My first flight was on Indian Airlines as a kid, I spent a lot of years working in MAA when there was just 9W and Sahara (the original version) around along with IC and while I have only good things to say about 9W and S2, it was IC which was the first choice of many including myself even for international where I have taken the IC flights to SIN, BKK and CMB. I particularly remember an IC MAA-SIN flight (then an A300- IC 555) where the respect and courtesy with which the crew treated the passengers of that flight was one of the best I have ever come across. It was a set of professional and experienced IC crew - (a set of crew some people mock as uncles and aunties ) but the way they handled the passengers on that flight ( a midnight departure) ,a lot of whom were first timers including a lot of elderly people as well as people with young children had to be seen to be believed Now of that extensive IC network out of MAA, only BOM , DEL, CCU and TRV and to a lesser extent the IXM , IXZ remain intact. Most of the rest has gone including the popular MAA-BLR-CJB, MAA-VTZ (which went on to DEL via BBI) and the most regrettable , the almost total pull out on the MAAHYD and MAA BLR routes. And interestingly KUL and BKK has been pulled as well!!!

What a magnificent write-up, Sir! Some lovely analysis from a person who has seen the industry for decades. It just made my morning, even after waking up late to some scoldings from The Wife.

TKMCE wrote:

I am sure Sumantraji would agree- "Sappad" ex MAA on Air India has always been excellent from Indian Airlines days on the Dilli sector. The flight duration is just the perfect one for a good sappad and a nice short nap!!!!

Sir, you have touched a c(h)ord deep inside (actually, a bit lower: my massive belly) with the mere mention of my favourite IC 802 MAA-DEL sappadu flight. The slightly light-spiced Chettinadu chicken was a treat for the senses. I used to take that flight out of Chennai (even if it meant getting back home rather late) - exactly for the Garfield-like food and the contented sleep that followed.

Another flight which I have patronised quite a lot. I first took it from my Mumbaikar days, but followed it up with the morning flight out of Delhi, to connect to the BOM-MAA-IXM flight at MAA. I took this option even when SG had introduced its same-plane DEL-MAA-IXM routing, and had those excellent BoB meals - that time. Madurai...Amma Mess...I have managed to convince The Wife that we just need to go out for dinner, tonight. The Udupi joint close-by will be a poor comparison to Amma Mess, but yes, we have to go out for dinner tonight.

TKMCE wrote:

Mumbai - 4 flights - good connectivity. One of them is a A330 on the BOM-MAA-SIN routing.

I would love to log more flights on this type. This also reminds me of the evening MAA-BOM flight, which I took in the early 2000s for two prominent reasons. One was the Sanjeev Kapoor food festival that was going on on Indian Airlines, and the second, was...one fo the last few chances to log a flight on an IC A300! The food and the crew were fantastic on that flight. The A300 ride was very comfortable.

TKMCE wrote:

Port Blair - Daily early morning flight. Another "Icon" flight operating for many decades from the 737 days (AI 549). The first domestic flight of AI out of MAA.

You have again brought back sweet memories, Sir. I have never taken this flight, but seen the loads thronging to the check-in desks at Meenambakkam, as I waited for the check-in for the first flight to Delhi.

TKMCE wrote:

Trivandrum - 2 daily - both "international " flights . 0645 goes via BLR and on to MLE, the 1735 goes non stop and continues to Sharjah. at least the timings are good and AI has some very loyal corporate customers . Again a route which has operate for more than 50 years from the Viscount days.

Again, very sweet memories, Sir. The Wife and I took IC 589 on 05 Mar 2008: MAA-TRZ-TRV(-SHJ), and remember the secondary cross-runway take-off, the food, seeing the Great Rock of Trichinopoly form the airport at TRZ, and the incredible land-side approach with miles of palm trees, into TRV. However, the loads on MAA-TRZ were quite bad, that day.

TKMCE wrote:

I particularly remember an IC MAA-SIN flight (then an A300- IC 555) where the respect and courtesy with which the crew treated the passengers of that flight was one of the best I have ever come across. It was a set of professional and experienced IC crew - (a set of crew some people mock as uncles and aunties ) but the way they handled the passengers on that flight ( a midnight departure) ,a lot of whom were first timers including a lot of elderly people as well as people with young children had to be seen to be believed

IC 555 was the `Timer chip' flight (alluding to the IC 555 chip) on which the heroics of Capt E Chandrasekhar saved the lives of many passengers...what a magnificent effort in the face of such heavy turbulence and a sheer drop!

Now, before I go way too off-topic, let me add that the Tatas have traditionally given due importance to food on board their flights. I hope this venture offers good BoB food - a void left by the good initiative from SpiceJet now on the wane.
Cheers, Sumantra.

Why not NAG? After all it was supposed to be the central city, with all the MIHAN project.
Or has that also bitten dust due to utter incompetence of local authorities and the usual lack of support from MH politicos?

I have to hand it to these guys though...they may move around in fanciest cars and even private planes/choppers, but politicos from MH , across all party lines, have zero outlook on aviation as an industry.

This state , inspite of having one megapolis, metro level city (Pune) and some more rapidly developing ones like Nagpur, Nasik, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, has utterly pathetic aviation infrastructure.

In contrast, Kerala has 3 international airports and a fourth one planned.

First of all wasn't it due to some politicians that Nagpur got some international flights in the first place??? QR started NAG in 2006 and dropped in 2009. " Want a few ripe fruits - take a few unripe ones as well" was for some time at least in the not so distant past, a key bargaining point of India in bilaterals. I still remember about three decades back a newspaper report of an India UAE bilateral (no links - long before Internet became popular) when GF who was then GF+WY+EK+EY+QR all in one asked for TRV and the Indian side "noted the UAE request and also offered CCU as an alternative".

Another Indian strategic initiative in those days when AI was running short of planes was to have a virtually "enforced" codeshare with AI whenever the other countries airline wanted new rights. As a result we had these gems like (in the days when Indian Airlines WAS NOT Air India) an Air India connection flight from Chennai to Paris via Delhi which was actually an Indian Airlines Chennai to Delhi and an Air France Delhi to CDG flight.

As far as Nagpur is concerned, comparison with Kerala is irrelevant. Kerala has traffic, mostly international but COK and of late TRV is getting an increased share of domestic as well. CCJ remains mostly Middle East traffic as will Kannur the fourth international airport under construction and which will most certainly get more international traffic than NAG. Kerala already has a 4th and 5h airports at its doorstep, CJB and IXE both within an easy hour or less drive from the state border. Similarly passengers from the southern most districts of Tamil Nadu still fly out from TRV even after the opening up of IXM.

As far as NAG was concerned it was a fantastic hub in those good old days of the night airmail service and the prop aircraft days. Now even the LCCs struggle as the rail connections to BOM are good.

Air Asia is better off sticking to South India since the new AI has become the domestic airline out of BOM an DEL and the international airline out of MAA. and thus inadvertently has given Air Asia India a ready made market to start growing.

An analysis of Air India's latest domestic flight schedule out of MAA is very illuminating

Ahmedabad - Thrice weekly via HYD on a MAA-HYD-AMD-Kuwait routing

Bangalore - One daily flight in the morning which continues to TRV and onwards to Male' (MAA-BLR-TRV-MLE).

Delhi-Five daily flights(most convenient for politicians). However AI 143 at 0845 and AI 0043 are "international connection flights". AI 143 is a CHG (change of a/c) flight to Paris. Otherwise timings allow a choice of two morning and two evening departures - and I am sure Sumantraji would agree- "Sappad" ex MAA on Air India has always been excellent from Indian Airlines days on the Dilli sector. The flight duration is just the perfect one for a good sappad and a nice short nap!!!!

Goa - Another international (oops...Domestic sector). Four flights a week departing 1835 arriving Goa at 1935 which continues to Kuwait. Return leaves Goa at 0735 and reaches at 0900.Air India is I guess targeting those holiday makers who don't want too waste too much time outside office . Most convenient to finish your work and catch your flight and vice versa. I guess " combine the best of both worlds" is their marketing slogan on this route..

Hyderabad - Like Bangalore , only one daily flight .this time in the evening. So if you want to head off to Bangalore on our national carrier, go in the morning, to Hyderabad, go instead in the evening. On Tue, Thu and Sat they do offer a second flight 25 min before their daily 1716 flight ... that is the thrice weekly one to Kuwait via Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.

Kochi - daily flight but at 1050 AM in the morning.

Kolkata . Daily flight ..AI 766 (the old IC 766) a very very long running evening flight popular for decades with travellers. Timings are also for a justifiable reason.

Mumbai - 4 flights - good connectivity. One of them is a A330 on the BOM-MAA-SIN routing.

Port Blair - Daily early morning flight. Another "Icon" flight operating for many decades from the 737 days (AI 549). The first domestic flight of AI out of MAA.

Pune- A daily flight but again like the COK one at an inconvenient timing. 0950 Dep

Trivandrum - 2 daily - both "international " flights . 0645 goes via BLR and on to MLE, the 1735 goes non stop and continues to Sharjah. at least the timings are good and AI has some very loyal corporate customers . Again a route which has operate for more than 50 years from the Viscount days.

Air India in addition daily non stop international flights to CMB/DXB/MCT /SIN in addition to the hopping flights to KWI/SHJ and MLE.

Now why am I discussing all this in Air Asia India thread??? Simple - why should Air Asia bother with BHO or NAG or IDR when they have such a good market waiting for them ex Chennai. MAA-BLR/MAA-HYD/MAA-CJB (AI pulled out its flights)/MAA-IXM/MAA-COK/MAA-PNQ- choose your pick!!!!

And don't forget if parent Air Asia knows ONE MARKET in India very well, it is MAA. Not just MAA KUL , Thai Air Asia has MAA- BKK as well.

And finally - just to make it clear.. I am NOT an Air India basher. While I have tried to put a humorous tone, in reality the post conveys my anguish of how Air India is selling out on the people from South India on domestic routes especially after Indian Airlines got merged with Air India My first flight was on Indian Airlines as a kid, I spent a lot of years working in MAA when there was just 9W and Sahara (the original version) around along with IC and while I have only good things to say about 9W and S2, it was IC which was the first choice of many including myself even for international where I have taken the IC flights to SIN, BKK and CMB. I particularly remember an IC MAA-SIN flight (then an A300- IC 555) where the respect and courtesy with which the crew treated the passengers of that flight was one of the best I have ever come across. It was a set of professional and experienced IC crew - (a set of crew some people mock as uncles and aunties ) but the way they handled the passengers on that flight ( a midnight departure) ,a lot of whom were first timers including a lot of elderly people as well as people with young children had to be seen to be believed Now of that extensive IC network out of MAA, only BOM , DEL, CCU and TRV and to a lesser extent the IXM , IXZ remain intact. Most of the rest has gone including the popular MAA-BLR-CJB, MAA-VTZ (which went on to DEL via BBI) and the most regrettable , the almost total pull out on the MAAHYD and MAA BLR routes. And interestingly KUL and BKK has been pulled as well!!!

Brilliant super informative post sir, thanks a lot._________________Causal Determinism : We are hardwired to need answers. The Caveman who heard a rustle in the bushes and checked out to see what it was, lived longer than the guy, who assumed it was just a breeze.

A big + to the Airbus A300 airframe as well that held up to the task. IIRC the plane was repaired and continued on service for some more time ?

I think all commercial airplanes are built to to withstand at least 5G in flight? It is a certification requirement.

The bulkheads on commercial freighters are supposed to be able to handle 9G apparently!_________________I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
-Jasepl

AirAsia India, which was initially optimistic about starting operations by October this year and then January 2014, may now need to wait until summer 2014 before it can start flying, according to media reports.

The "grey cells" are getting a hang of the learning curve, it seems!_________________I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
-Jasepl

AirAsia India is interviewing pilots of smaller planes such as turboprops after losing a chunk of its own crew to rival airlines, as the carrier faces a dearth of pilots for its own Airbus A320 planes at the salary levels it is offering.

The airline is yet to start operations. The move to hire pilots of other planes may delay its commencement and expansion plans as it will have to train them to fly its own airliners.

"They are mostly interviewing Kingfisher Airlines' pilots who used to fly 70-seater ATR (Avions de Transport Regionale) planes," a pilot who has been called for such an interview told ET.

Over the last few months, the Indian unit of AirAsia has lost at least seven pilots, one of whom went to Air India Express and the rest to rival budget carrier IndiGo.

TRZ was expected being their international gateway but may be difficult to sustain. And while no one expected them to start CCJ, exclusion of TRV, IXE and even VTZ is suprising.MAA COK for isntance is already overvrowded

AirAsia India plans to start operations in March 2014 if the government issues it an Air Operating Permit (AOP), according to two executives at the company. The airline is preparing to open bookings on its website by next month, the executives said, according to a report by P R Sanjai in Mint. According to the original plan, the airline was to begin operations by December 2013.

“We are preparing ourselves to take off the first commercial flight by as early as March. This is based on the assumption that we will be getting AOP by either this month-end or early next month,” said one of the executives.

AirAsia promises 'dramatically' low fares in India, set to launch flights by March-April

Quote:

DAVOS: Hopeful of launching flights in India in next 2 to 3 months, Air Asia chief Tony Fernandes says that the airline would introduce 'dramatically' low fares in the country, which would be cheapest in the market and take air travel to masses.

Fernandes, who is here for World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting, said that AirAsia India is fully prepared from its side for the launch and is waiting for final government approvals that should come soon and help it begin flights by March-April this year.

"I think we are coming very close and March-April should be time when we should begin the India operations," the Malaysia-based airline major AirAsia's chief executive officer told PTI in an interview here.

DGCA invokes a provision under Aircraft Rules 1937, asking for public feedback on AirAsia’s application to start services in India

Jan 28 2014

AirAsia Bhd, the region’s biggest budget airline, is aiming to start flights in India and bring more competition to one of the world’s fastest growing markets. The only thing standing in the way: a law dating back to the 1930s.

India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) invoked a provision under its Aircraft Rules 1937, for the first time, asking for public feedback on an application by an airline to start services in the country. That delayed plans for AirAsia, which had aimed to start operations by the end of December and offer free tickets for some seats.

DGCA invokes a provision under Aircraft Rules 1937, asking for public feedback on AirAsia’s application to start services in India

Jan 28 2014

AirAsia Bhd, the region’s biggest budget airline, is aiming to start flights in India and bring more competition to one of the world’s fastest growing markets. The only thing standing in the way: a law dating back to the 1930s.

India’s aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) invoked a provision under its Aircraft Rules 1937, for the first time, asking for public feedback on an application by an airline to start services in the country. That delayed plans for AirAsia, which had aimed to start operations by the end of December and offer free tickets for some seats.

And was this law used for other carriers as well, or has it been unearthed just because Air Asia refused to bribe babu no 1001 in the bureaucratic garbage chain?_________________I don't know which is the more pampered bunch : AI's widebodies (the aunties) or Jet's widebodies (the planes).
-Jasepl

Good move by DGCA. If a law is there, just because it was not invoked for others does not hold good. If the new DG decides to play by the rule book, then he has to be lauded, not lamblasted. And Air Asia can clear all the hurdles and tell the whole world "look we are squeaky clean".

Reminds me of Imran Khan who fed up with complaints of biased home umpiring being the reason for Pakistan cricket team's success invited V K Ramaswamy and Piloo Reporter to officiate in the Lahore test vs West Indies in 1986. And now "neutral umpires" are the norm!!!

Good move by DGCA. If a law is there, just because it was not invoked for others does not hold good. If the new DG decides to play by the rule book, then he has to be lauded, not lamblasted. And Air Asia can clear all the hurdles and tell the whole world "look we are squeaky clean".

DGCA is just protecting AI, Jet and Spicejet. They dont want any more competition, may be it was AI/Jet behind this and I dont blame them either. India does not need any more carriers, especially when Air Asia is boldly claiming that they will slash air fares to rock bottom dragging everyone with them

Bharatiya Janata Party opposes licence to AirAsia India Pvt Ltd
News
10-Feb-2014 12:32 PM
India's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy has officially opposed the granting of a scheduled airline licence to the proposed AirAsia and Tata Sons JV, claiming the JV does not meet the basic criteria of "effective control" by Indian nationals (TNN, 09-Feb-2014). AirAsia will have a 49% stake in the JV, AirAsia India Pvt Ltd (AAIPL) with Tata Sons and Telestra Tradeplace holding 30% and 21% respectively. Mr Swamy, in a letter to the DGCA, said: "Indian shareholding in AAIPL is held by Tatas and Telestra in 30:21 ratio, which requires both voting together on all important matters since AirAsia is the single largest shareholder with 49%. Numerous management difficulties would come up in absence of there being a single majority Indian shareholder with respect to effective control". Mr Swamy also cited the International Air Services Transit Agreement on airline ownership in the letter, stating: "Each contracting state reserves the right to withhold or revoke certificate to an air transport enterprise...in case it is not satisfied that substantial ownership and effective control are vested in nationals of the contracting state."

The directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA) Friday disposed off the objections raised against the proposed low cost carrier filed by other Indian airlines and some politicians too.

"AirAsia India is yet to complete all formalities, so we did not issue the schedule air operator permit (AOP) along with disposing the objections. Their application for consideration of issuing the AOP has been held valid and the same will be issued as soon as they meet all procedural requirements," said an official.

AirAsia India says it is unperturbed by various attempts to stop it from taking to the skies and now aims to start operations in May 2014, having missed a few earlier targets since September last year.

"We may get the air operator permit (AOP) in about three weeks. Thereafter, we may commence operations in two months from Chennai," Chief Executive Officer Mittu Chandilya told the The Hindu in an interview in Chennai on Wednesday.

Another date - hopefully this time it will work out!_________________We miss you Nalini!